BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON INC (Subsidiary of Textron Inc)

During 1970-81, Bell Helicopter Textron was unincorporated division of Textron Inc; became wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc from 3 January 1982. Bell Helicopter Textron Canada formed at Montréal/Mirabel under contract with Canadian government October 1983; transfer to Mirabel, completed January 1987, of Bell 206B JetRanger and 206L LongRanger production. Production of Bell 212/412 transferred mid-1988 and early 1989 respectively; Bell 230, 430, 427 and 407 programmes also undertaken in Canada, although some of these now terminated.
Bell and Boeing collaborate in design and manufacture of V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. New 41,800 m² (450,000 sq ft) factory at Amarillo International Airport, Texas, completed in 1999 as a Tiltrotor Assembly Centre (TAc) for the V-22 and the commercial BA609; latter tiltrotor, previously also a joint venture with Boeing, became a solely Bell programme on 1 March 1998 and is now (with the AB139) the core of a joint venture effort undertaken in conjunction with Agusta of Italy; an agreement establishing the Bell/Agusta Aercrapace Company was signed in November 1998.
In 2002, Bell USA delivered one new V-22 Osprey, plus 22 upgraded OH-58s to US DoD, plus 16 Huey II upgrades to foreign order; Canadian shipments added 102 light helicopters, including 10 TH-67s to US Army and five Bell 412s to Saudi Arabia.